Centuries ago, the armies of the demon highlord Surtan, Lord of Strife, were defeated by the combined efforts of the human King Idros Kelethrin, and the elfen Queen Elwil Nirnlothien. The pair had first met years earlier when Idros was but a mere prince. While the Prince was immediately smitten with the then-newly-crowned elfen queen's beauty and intelligence, Elwil found herself drawn to Idros' wit and charisma, and the two eventually wed.

All was well in the realm until, one day, while attending a diplomatic meeting with potential allies on a neighboring continent, Idros and Elwil were forced to draw blade as the lead envoy revealed his identity as Surtan, and his cohorts as lesser demons, having once more set foot on the mortal plane after eons banished to the Abyss.

Ultimately weakened in both mind and body from the strain of battle, Idros fell to Surtan's demonic wiles in spite of his queen's best efforts. Queen Nirnlothien was thus forced to draw blade against her husband, quickly realizing that ending her husband's mortal life would be the only way to save him. Elwil then began calling on the Old Magicks of her ancestors to send Idros' soul beyond the Divine Gate, where neither she nor Surtan could easily reach.

As her husband's warm and dead body lay behind her, and raw emotion fueling her, Elwil took up Idros' blade, and began to steadily beat Surtan back, finally cleaving the demon lord's head from his shoulders in one final swing. The remaining demonic forces quickly scattered at the defeat of their leader.

The battle hard-fought and won, Elwil took her husband's corpse back across the Shattered Sea to the human capital of Dorthimlond, and left him in the care of the clergymen there, before returning west to Thyscalen, the elfen kingdom of her birth. There she proceeded to sequester herself in mourning. While she still loved her King, Elwil could no longer bear to see him. And so it was that Queen Elwil spent the rest of her existence in isolation wishing--and finally receiving--an end to her immortal life, if only to be reunited with her love.

Over the years, as the legend of Idros and Elwil faded from memory, whispers began to subvert fact with fiction: In Dorthimlond it was said that Elwil slew Idros not out of mercy, but outright for her own gains. Across the sea, whispers abound that Idros' own volition, not Surtan's charms, drove him to make an attempt on his Queen's life.

What part will you play in the Tales of Aetherium? Will you seek glory, hoping to mark your name in the annals of history like that of Idros and Elwil, or will you resign yourself to the mundane life of a craftsman, or find some inbetween walk of life?

All this and more lies at your fingertips.